Risks Must Be Taken
by DrWhohouselock221b
Summary: Last Resort, Season 5 alternate plot line. Begins in the CT room and goes on from there. House/Cuddy pairing, House/Wilson friendship. This includes some House!whump but really the main focus is on the House/Cuddy relationship and the emotional turmoil the event in this story causes. **If you don't want to see graphic depictions of violence then DO NOT READ.**
1. Chapter 1 - Not Enough

**Chapter 1 - Not Enough**

Set in the episode Last Resort, Season 5. During the episode, House has to treat a patient while under a hostage situation. While in the CT room they manage to the get the gun away from the assailant, but what happens next? An alternate plot line for the events inside the CT room.

I'd also like to point out that this story includes a quote at the beginning of every chapter. I've related each one to the contents of each chapter, but it's up to you to decide what they really mean. Or you could just ignore it.

 **"** The tragedy of life is in what dies inside a man while he lives - the death of genuine feeling, the death of inspired response, the awareness that makes it possible to feel the pain or the glory of other men in yourself. **"**

 _Norman Cousins_

* * *

They were in Cuddy's office, Jason was sitting in the chair across from House, who was standing. House was piecing together the solution in his head, when suddenly:

"You have lung cancer." House said.

"I need proof." Jason replied.

"Of course you do!" He said sarcastically.

House thought for a minute, then limped over to him. He put his left hand right underneath Jason's jaw line on the right side, feeling for a nodule.

"Feel that. Right there." House moved his hand from Jason's neck.

The assailant placed his fingers on the nodule, making sense of it.

"If it's cancer, there must be a test." Jason replied, still feeling the lump.

"You just did it."

"What about an X-ray or something?" He rasped.

"Good idea! Oh, damn! Looks like I left my CT machine in my other pants." House replied, slapping his pockets sarcastically.

"How many hostages do you think it would cost me for a trip to radiology?"

And then they were all tied together in a circle, and the lunatic with a gun was in the middle of a human shield.

* * *

They walked painstakingly slow to Radiology, all the while, House's leg was sending sharp stabbing pains through his thigh and back. He pushed through.

Once they had made it, Jason walked over to the observation room.

"If you need anything in here, get it now."

So House set a computer on a trolley and rolled it out of the room near the CT machine.

Jason had already laid down on the machines carriage.

House didn't mention that the gun was going to mess up the scan, he waited.

Thirteen pressed the button on the machine and the scan started.

The gun shook as Jason's hand trembled.

As the scan finished, House wrote on a piece of notebook paper, and handed it to Oliver, the red haired boy and one of the younger hostages.

"Hold this." House said.

"Show me the tumour." Jason said, sitting up.

House looked down then turned the monitor around to show him the scan. The image was all static and streaked. "Starburst artifact occurs because the metal from your gun is ruining the image. Show him the paper."

Oliver showed him, it said _Starburst._

"We need the gun." House said.

Jason stood up threateningly, "You're not getting the gun." He said.

"Then no scan."

Jason thought for a few minutes, then, defeated, handed House the gun. The immediate release of tension in the room was undeniable. Two of the hostages rushed out of the room.

Jason got pack on the scan's carriage again.

As the scan completed, House let out a strained breath.

"Show me the tumour already."

A pause before House replied.

"There isn't one. I don't know what you have." House said quietly.

Jason laughed, it was a menacing laugh that couldn't be seen as anything other than angry.

"So... it's over." Jason rasped quietly, seconds passed.

Then, suddenly, as House stood up, Jason shoved the trolley with the computer towards House, sending him sprawling on the ground along with the gun. Jason lunged for it and pointed it at House's chest. House stared, bewildered.

Jason put a hand to his head, agitated, "I knew you couldn't do it, I- I knew it!" He paced. "I put all my faith in you doctors and not one of you could solve my case, not even the great Gregory House...Now I'll go to jail, die not knowing…"

His eyes were wild, you could see the anger, sadness… the defeat. He finished, "...and you can die not knowing with me."

Then there were three loud bangs.

Sitting in the lobby, a startled Lisa Cuddy took in a sharp breath, suddenly worried.

"What's happened? What's going on?" She jumped up, worried.

Bowman, the officer in charge replied, stepping in front of the Dean, "Dr. Cuddy, please take a seat and let us handle this."

Suddenly Bowman was listening intently to his mic. "Send officers in, now!" He turned to Cuddy with a sad look in his eyes.

Her heart stopped.

* * *

Thirteen threw her sickly body to it's knees beside House.

"House, House stay awake."

House was taking in labored breaths, blood began dripping out the side of his mouth. Jason's body lay across from him, one bullet hole in his temple.

Thirteen shoved the body off of him and began pressing her hands on the bullet hole in House's chest, it had hit his right lung, the other one had managed to hit his stomach about 4 inches below the initial one, due to Jason's trembling hands.

"Help! We need help!" Thirteen was yelling as House began choking on his own blood. His body was jerking with the attempts of getting air into his blood filled lungs. She turned him on his side to keep the blood from building up in his throat. This got a strangled moan from House, who was gripping Thirteen's shirt with a blood smeared hand.

Officers were rushing in and a group of paramedics had been called in as well.

House's vision was going black and he couldn't breath, then Lisa was there, tears in her eyes. The paramedics were working as fast they could, but he just couldn't breath. He was gasping by the time they were wheeling him into the ambulance headed for Princeton General.

 **To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2 - A Deafening Sound

**Chapter 2 - A Deafening Sound**

Set in more of Cuddy's POV, this covers the events that go on outside the CT room and Cuddy's view on the whole event. Much shorter chapter here than the previous one, but I hope it's still good. Next chapter we should get a visit from the boy wonder oncologist, encounter some recovery, and, ultimately after that, the Cuddy/House emotional feud… oh no, I've said too much… Anyways, enjoy this next chapter.

P.S. This story can also be found on Wattpad by the same name, Risks Must Be Taken: A House Fanfiction. Please do go check it out if you want a more formal reading experience.

 **"** I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death. **"**

 _Leonardo da Vinci_

* * *

Cuddy's worry was building up. It was almost suffocating her, she never realized how much she cared for House, she almost felt guilty for thinking only about House the entire time and not about the others stuck inside the same room. The same situation. The same fear.

She was sitting on a bench inside the lobby, Bowman had been standing at the round office area in the middle of the lobby with his other officers where they had set up a control station.

Cuddy had been trying to get information out of him earlier, but he refused to update her on the situation, needing all of his focus on getting his team inside the CT room before anything else happened.

Bowman was putting the order in, they were going to blow the wall open behind Jason to end this charade. The officers were getting the equipment and began their trek to the room. Suddenly, the deafening and horrifying sound of two quick gunshots, then a few seconds afterwards a third, rang throughout the empty halls of the hospital.

Cuddy's heart stopped, not a breath was taken in that room for several seconds before Bowman sent his team in.

 _Please let him be okay, please let him be okay._ She chanted inside her head

She couldn't help herself when she got up and ran to the room, what she saw made fear boil over her emotional bucket. House was lying on the ground, Thirteen was next to him. She was pressing her trembling hands into the two gunshot wounds in House's abdomen and chest.

"House?" Cuddy was on her knees next to him, he was gasping for breath as the blood dripped into a small puddle on the floor. She didn't feel the tears roll down her cheeks, she was focused on the paramedics working feverishly to get House's life blood from dripping useless to the floor. By the time he was on the backboard, he was taking fast, hitched breaths and couldn't help the moans from escaping his mouth as they dropped him on the gurney and rushed him to the ambulance.

Cuddy was there the whole time, she sat next to him as they began their ride to Princeton General hospital. She would have prefered they used her own hospital, but at this point it was out of commission.

House was gripping her hand while they rode. His grip loosened as they were pulling into the ambulance bay, Lisa looked down just in time to see House's eyes close and the heart monitor flat line.


	3. Chapter 3 - A Test in Caring

**Chapter 3 - A Test in Caring**

Welcome to chapter 3! Thank you everyone who has been reading and leaving comments, I really appreciate every one of them. I wanted to address a few of the comments first, there was a question about why I made it so House was taken to Princeton General when they were already at PPTH and the reason is because after an event like that, the staff aren't going to be inside the building anymore, as well as the fact that even if they were, getting everything prepared in time for such a swift evaluation wouldn't be easy due to the fact that everyone is not in their normal branches. I'm sure I could have made it work, but it just seemed more practical to redirect an urgent care patient to another hospital. It's not a major biggie, but just wanted to address the questions. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter. Please let me know if you thought it was good!

"Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable. "

 _Bruce Lee_

* * *

"He's coding! Get the paddles!" The paramedics were immediately in action, pressing the sticky pads to his chest from the defibrillator. "Charging, Clear!" It shocked him. The heart monitor had one blip before it went flat again.

"Again! Charging, Clear!" It shocked him again. The blips became a regular rhythm and the paramedics immediately began pulling him out of the ambulance heading for the ER. Lisa was in shock, she followed the gurney blindly until she was standing in a curtained area with House in the middle surrounded by medical personnel. They were attaching monitors, IV's and cutting away clothing. In the midst of the chaos a steady and terrifying sound soon filled the room, House's heart had suddenly given out again.

The area was launched into a flurry of activity, the paddles were brought out again. He as shocked three times before he was brought back.

The Head physician took control, "He's got internal bleeding, he's losing too much blood." She began giving orders to her medical staff, ordering blood to be transfused, an OR prepped, and a medical history from Cuddy. Lisa was frozen, she could only focus on the almost slow motion dripping of crimson falling off of House's fingers onto the ground. It had somehow gotten on his hand on the ride over, blood had pooled next him on the gurney and was now smeared all over his forearm and trailed down his hand.

The next 20 minutes were a blur, Lisa filled out the medical history and allowed herself to be shown to a waiting room just as Greg was rolled to the OR. She gained her composure after sitting in a hard hospital chair for 5 minutes and called Wilson.

* * *

Wilson had gotten the call from Cuddy just minutes after House had been wheeled into the OR of Princeton General.

"Wilson, House has been shot. He's in the OR now, we're at Princeton General." She said, her voice was strong but Wilson could hear the seeping panic behind Cuddy's emotional walls.

"Wh-What? Wh-How? I'm on my way now." He was rushing to his car the second he hung up the phone. PPTH had been shut down that day because of the events, it had been, essentially, a crime scene. They had started to move the more critical patients back inside, but the incoming patients had been redirected to other local hospitals.

Cuddy was standing in the waiting room of the ER, waiting for Wilson. She was trying to rationalize the situation, trying to keep herself level-headed at least until Wilson got there.

Finally, Lisa saw the door burst open and a frazzled James Wilson walked in, his eyes searched the room for a second before he saw Cuddy. She embraced him in a tight hug, and they sat their for several minutes holding each other trying not to think of the possible outcome that their friend may not come back out of those doors.

* * *

 **3 Hours, 48 minutes and 20 seconds.**

Wilson had gotten coffee for both Lisa and himself after he had arrived. Wilson made a quick call to Blythe to let her know what had happened. He was sure House was going to be pissed about it, but Blythe was catching a flight there as soon as possible.

It had been almost four hours and they still hadn't received any news on House's condition. Wilson had gone up to the ER attendant sitting at the desk and questioned them for information, but all they could tell him was that he would have to wait for the attending to come out with news.

Finally, as Cuddy was becoming impatient, a doctor came out of the heavy automatic doors leading into the ER.

Cuddy and Wilson were standing in front of him in an instant.

"Family of Gregory House?" He asked.

"Yes." Wilson answered for both of them.

The doctor began, "He's alive." They let their breaths out. "He suffered two gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen, both bullets were removed successfully. There was some minor damage to the right diaphragm and significant damage to the right lung, we were able to staunch the bleeding and suture him up well enough. We're going to keep him on the ventilator for another couple of days until his lungs heal enough to withstand breathing on his own again. Diaphragm injuries are tricky, I'm sure you know. I'm really trying to push getting him off the ventilator as soon as possible, but we can't rush it. As for mental state we'll have to assess that when he wakes up, not knowing Dr. House makes it hard for me to assess whether PTSD is going to be a viable result of such a traumatic event, I'm sure you both can help me with that." They both nodded. "He's currently being taken up to room 221, I'll have a nurse take you up to see him in a few minutes. I'll be up to start him on some medications after he's settled." Before he left, he stopped and his expression softened, "I'm sure you both have been extremely worried and I'm sorry for what's happened, but Dr. House is a strong fellow, he'll pull through." He patted Wilson on the shoulder and gave Lisa a soft nod before leaving.

The nurse showed up minutes later to take them to House's room.

Lisa was curled up in one of the chairs in the corner breathing softly, Wilson had told her to get some rest, which he himself needed as well. He couldn't help but stay awake and be there for his friend.

There had been so many times in the past years of their friendship where James had turned his back on House. It made him physically nauseous to think that he would do something like that to his best friend. The aftermath of the Tritter case, the bus crash… Amber. They had all been times when Wilson had simply left House to deal with himself on his own. Now, James sat next to his bedside at 12 am holding his hand just like he had after the infarction. He glanced at his heart monitor every few minutes, paranoia escaping his normally calm mind. After an hour of glancing, his eyes finally couldn't hold themselves open any longer.

* * *

 **2 Days Later**

If House hadn't known better, he would've thought it was his mother holding his hand, but when he woke up, it was none other than Dr. James Wilson, boy wonder oncologist. House would have said "No homo," in an attempt to get a rise out of Wilson if it weren't for the tube currently stuck down his throat. He tried to stay calm and keep letting the machine breath for him, but after a few seconds his body began it's natural gag reflex. The alarm for O2 stats began going off and Wilson jumped with a start. His heart stopped as the noise registered. His blurry vision couldn't see whether it was House's heart or something else that had gone abnormal. He hurriedly pushed the call button. Lisa had woken with a start at the sound of the alarms. She was by his bedside immediately.

Wilson finally registered it was the ventilator, "House? House? Calm down, on the count of three cough, okay?"

He coughed and Wilson pulled the tube out just as the nurse was jogging through the door.

"Hey, you guys can't do that!" She said, she realised who they were and kept her mouth shut. It may be against hospital policy, but they knew what they were doing, and if the nurse didn't say anything, neither would they. The nurse took the ventilator and moved it away from the bed to provide more room, then silently left without another word.

* * *

House was thankful for the tube finally coming out, his throat was scratchy and sore, and he was sure he was going to sound raspy and hoarse for a few days.

"Water." He whispered. Wilson handed him a cup.

As Wilson set the cup down on the table, Lisa reached over and grabbed House's hand.

"We're glad you're finally awake. It's been 2 days."

"What's the prognosis?" House asked, resting a hand on his sore chest. "And what pain meds am I on? Tylenol?" He managed to get out in between soft gasps. Lisa quickly got the doctor called.

"We had to wait for you to wake up to give you any narcotics, the risk of masking any other symptoms of internal injury was too high. We'll get you on some morphine soon, hold tight, alright?"

Finally the doctor showed up, "Doctor House! Great to see you awake. Can you localize the pain for me?" He asked quickly, trying not to put him through much more suffering.

"Chest. Abdomen. Moderate pain." He said shortly, still making small huffs of breath. The doctor was going to ask another question but House answered quickly, "Nothing unusual, I'm not bleeding internally, I promise."

The doctor was satisfied and began writing on Greg's chart, "Alright, you might feel a little fuzzy after I've administered the morphine but this should do the job." He inserted the needle into the IV and pressed the plunger.

It was sweet relief, he immediately felt his mind get a little more cloudy, but it wasn't enough to throw him into a morphine haze.

"I'll order a morphine drip to be brought in. If you have any concerns or questions, please let me know." The young doctor flashed a smiled and left.

"So, prognosis?" House asked again.

Lisa began the explanation as House probed the injury sites. After she was done, she looked at Wilson with an accusing but understanding look. Wilson understood immediately.

"Uh, House. There's one more thing." He began, "I called your mom while you were in surgery. She's here." He finished.

The only sound was a soft whisper, "You've got to be kidding me." He let his head drop to the pillow and closed his eyes, feigning sleep.


End file.
